A lifting device is disclosed in which tong arms are coupled to parallel laminated horizontal spine members that slide in opposition to each other via input of force from the tong arms. The horizontal spine members are coupled to load-engaging feet to transfer the force of the tong members to a given load. The horizontal spine members include teeth or the like along a horizontal axis for engagement and indexing of the load-engaging feet.
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15. A lifting device comprising
a lifting hook;
first and second upper arms comprising ends pivotally connected to the lifting hook, and lower ends;
first and second lower arms having upper ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second upper arms, a central pivot bolt pivotally connecting the first and second lower arms together at intermediate regions thereof, and lower ends movable toward and away from each other when the first and second arms rotate in relation to each other around the central pivot bolt;
a spine assembly supported by the lower ends of the first and second lower arms; and
outer and inner feet mounted at different positions along a length of the spine assembly and comprising pads structured and arranged to grip objects to be lifted by the lifting device,
wherein the spine assembly comprises outer and inner spine bars slidably movable in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly when the lower ends of the first and second lower arms are moved toward and away from each other, the outer foot is releasingly securable to the outer spine bar, and the inner foot is releasingly securable to the inner spine bar, whereby the sliding movement of the outer and inner spine bars in relation to each other causes the outer and inner feet to move in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly,
wherein the outer spine bar comprises a central slot receiving a first bolt connected to the lower end of the first lower arm, and a central hole receiving a second bolt connected to the lower end of the second lower arm, and wherein the inner sine bar comprises a central hole receiving the first bolt, and a central slot receiving the second bolt, and
further comprising end bolts at opposite ends of the spine assembly, wherein each end bolt extends through an end hole located at an end of the outer spine bar, and each end bolt extends through an end slot located at an end of the inner spine bar.
1. A lifting device comprising
a lifting hook;
first and second upper arms comprising ends pivotally connected to the lifting hook, and lower ends;
first and second lower arms having upper ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second upper arms, a central pivot bolt pivotally connecting the first and second lower arms together at intermediate regions thereof, and lower ends movable toward and away from each other when the first and second arms rotate in relation to each other around the central pivot bolt;
a spine assembly supported by the lower ends of the first and second lower arms; and
outer and inner feet mounted at different positions along a length of the spine assembly and comprising pads structured and arranged to grip objects to be lifted by the lifting device,
wherein the spine assembly comprises outer and inner spine bars slidably movable in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly when the lower ends of the first and second lower arms are moved toward and away from each other, the outer foot is releasingly securable to the outer spine bar, and the inner foot is releasingly securable to the inner spine bar, whereby the sliding movement of the outer and inner spine bars in relation to each other causes the outer and inner feet to move in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly,
wherein the outer spine bar comprises downwardly extending teeth on a lower edge thereof engagable with upwardly extending teeth of an outer tooth block located inside the outer foot, and the inner spine bar comprises downwardly extending teeth on a lower edge thereof engageable with upwardly extending teeth of an inner tooth block located inside the inner foot,
wherein the outer foot comprises an outer shoe comprising a lower edge slidingly supported on an upper edge of the outer spine bar, and the inner foot comprises an inner shoe comprising a lower edge slidingly supported on an upper edge of the inner spine bar, and
wherein opposing shell plates of the outer foot are downwardly movable in relation to the outer shoe, the outer tooth block is fixedly secured to the opposing shell plates of the outer foot, and downward movement of the opposing shell plates of the outer foot in relation to the outer shoe causes the outer tooth block to drop in relation to the downwardly extending teeth of the outer spine bar to thereby disengage the downwardly extending teeth from the upwardly extending teeth of the outer tooth block.
14. A lifting device comprising
a lifting hook;
first and second upper arms comprising ends pivotally connected to the lifting hook, and lower ends;
first and second lower arms having upper ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second upper arms, a central pivot bolt pivotally connecting the first and second lower arms together at intermediate regions thereof, and lower ends movable toward and away from each other when the first and second arms rotate in relation to each other around the central pivot bolt;
a spine assembly supported by the lower ends of the first and second lower arms; and
outer and inner feet mounted at different positions along a length of the spine assembly and comprising pads structured and arranged to rip objects to be lifted by the lifting device,
wherein the spine assembly comprises outer and inner spine bars slidably movable in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly when the lower ends of the first and second lower arms are moved toward and away from each other, the outer foot is releasingly securable to the outer spine bar, and the inner foot is releasingly securable to the inner spine bar, whereby the sliding movement of the outer and inner spine bars in relation to each other causes the outer and inner feet to move in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly,
wherein the outer spine bar comprises downwardly extending teeth on a lower edge thereof engageable with upwardly extending teeth of an outer tooth block located inside the outer foot, and the inner spine bar comprises downwardly extending teeth on a lower edge thereof engageable with upwardly extending teeth of an inner tooth block located inside the inner foot,
wherein the outer foot comprises an outer shoe comprising a lower edge slidingly supported on an upper edge of the outer spine bar, and the inner foot comprises an inner shoe comprising a lower edge slidingly supported on an upper edge of the inner spine bar, and
wherein opposing shell plates of the inner foot are downwardly moveable in relation to the inner shoe, the inner tooth block is fixedly secured to the opposing shell plates of the inner foot, and downward movement of the opposing shell plates of the inner foot in relation to the inner shoe causes the inner tooth, block to drop in relation to the downwardly extending teeth of the inner spine bar to thereby disengage the downwardly extending teeth from the upwardly extending teeth of the inner tooth block.
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This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/377,978 filed Aug. 22, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention provides a device for lifting a variety of objects, and more particularly relates to a device configured to transfer clamping force along a horizontal axis as well as a method of adjusting the device.
Various types of lifting devices are used for lifting objects such as logs, pipes, debris, concrete highway barriers, rocks and the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,752 to Douglas describes a concrete pipe lifting apparatus with a lockable and releasable scissor grip structure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,025 to Douglas describes a barrier lifter apparatus having a scissor structure with L-shaped clamping elements.
The present invention provides a lifting device in which tong arms are coupled to a spine assembly comprising parallel laminated horizontal members that slide in opposition to each other via the input of force from the tong arms. The horizontal spine members are further coupled to load engaging feet, thus transferring the force of the tong arms to the given load. The horizontal spine members include teeth or the like along a horizontal axis for the engagement and indexing of the load-engaging feet. The load-engaging feet include a lever, switch or the like for engaging a tooth block in each foot with the opposing teeth of the horizontal spine members.
In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the lifting device comprises a tong style body unit comprising two tong tines or arms pivotally joined by a central axis, each tong arm joined to an upper link at one end, and each upper link joined together by a pin or shaft along with a lifting bail or hook at the opposite end. A cyclic latching mechanism may be affixed to either an upper link, the lift bail or the link pin itself, and a receiving member corresponding to the latching mechanism may be affixed to a tong element, or the central pivot pin or shaft itself. A laminated spine assembly comprises outer spine elements having a provision for the engagement of a locking member along a horizontal edge that is joined to the output end of one of the tong assemblies, and an inner spine element having a provision for the engagement of a locking member along a horizontal edge that is joined to the output end of the opposing tong assembly. Two horizontally mobile foot assemblies, each comprising plate members laterally joined by crossing members perpendicular to the plane of the plate members, encase the spine elements to provide a freedom of movement along the horizontal axis of the spines. Means are provided for locking each of the foot assemblies to either the inner or outer horizontal members respectively via the engagement mechanism. A load-engaging pad is provided on each foot to engage and clamp the object to be lifted. Each pad may pivot in relation to its respective foot, and may be made of any suitable material such as urethane, gripping teeth, and the like.
An aspect of the present invention is to provide a lifting device comprising a lifting hook, first and second upper arms comprising ends pivotally connected to the lifting hook, and lower ends, first and second lower arms having upper ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the first and second upper arms, a central pivot bolt pivotally connecting the first and second lower arms together at intermediate regions thereof, and lower ends movable toward and away from each other when the first and second arms rotate in relation to each other around the central pivot bolt, a spine assembly supported by the lower ends of the first and second lower arms, and outer and inner feet mounted at different positions along a length of the spine assembly and comprising pads structured and arranged to grip objects to be lifted by the lifting device, wherein the spine assembly comprises outer and inner spine bars slidably movable in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly when the lower ends of the first and second lower arms moved toward and away from each other, the outer foot is releasingly securable to the outer spine bar, and the inner foot is releasingly securable to the inner spine bar, whereby the sliding movement of the outer and inner spine bars in relation to each other causes the outer and inner feet to move in relation to each other along the length of the spine assembly.
This and other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.
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The components of the lifting device 10 may be made of any suitable materials known to those skilled in the art, including metals such as steel.
As used herein, “including,” “containing” and like terms are understood in the context of this application to be synonymous with “comprising” and are therefore open-ended and do not exclude the presence of additional undescribed or unrecited elements, materials, phases or method steps. As used herein, “consisting of” is understood in the context of this application to exclude the presence of any unspecified element, material, phase or method step. As used herein, “consisting essentially of” is understood in the context of this application to include the specified elements, materials, phases, or method steps, where applicable, and to also include any unspecified elements, materials, phases, or method steps that do not materially affect the basic or novel characteristics of the invention.
In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural and plural encompasses singular, unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, in this application, the use of “or” means “and/or” unless specifically stated otherwise, even though “and/or” may be explicitly used in certain instances. In this application and the appended claims, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent.
Whereas particular embodiments of this invention have been described above for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details of the present invention may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Cveykus, Gregory A., Mastruserio, Josh, Freidhoff, Anthony
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Aug 22 2017 | Kenco Corporation | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Jan 24 2019 | CVEYKUS, GREGORY A | Kenco Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 048118 | /0351 | |
Jan 24 2019 | MASTRUSERIO, JOSH | Kenco Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 048118 | /0351 | |
Jan 24 2019 | FREIDHOFF, ANTHONY | Kenco Corporation | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 048118 | /0351 |
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